Tales To Tell
by xFillyStarx
Summary: There are a lot of characters in this big endless universe. Each has his own story. Some are different. Some are connected. Whatever the case, though, we're all in the same boat. For Wishing-Fire's This or That Challenge
1. Riku: Hero

**My take on Wishing-Fire's This or That Challenge. For one it sounded like fun. For another, I've been trying to discipline myself with my writing lately, both with word count so I don't end up babbling on for eighty pages and with actually finishing something for once. So, here I go with Chapter One of my first challenge ever.**

**I remember a particular scene in Re:Coded of a flashback where Riku is holding his hand up while starring up at the moon. No words were spoken at all, but it just seemed like a powerful scene to me; therefore, it provided a little inspiration for this.**

**Disclaimr: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Just actual fanfic is mine, though.**

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><p><strong><span>Riku: Hero<span>**

What did it mean to be a hero?

Riku starred up at the sky between outstretched fingers. What did it take?

He thought about Sora, how he always seemed to know the difference between right and wrong. He made it look so easy. Riku sighed and let his hand fall to his side. _I wish I could be like you. Just following my heart._

_My_ heart.

Riku raised his hand again, closing it over his chest. Even after everything, it still pumped with life and purpose.

_Maybe I'm a different kind of hero,_ he thought. _A dark hero._

_Close enough._


	2. Xion: Burn

**For Wishing-Fire's This or That Challenge.**

**I feel like I didn't get as much down as I wanted in this one. Then again, the rough draft is so much longer than this, it was hard trying to narrow it down to only a hundred words. Oh, well. Can't say it's a total failure, because it isn't. Who knows. I might end up publishing the longer version as a separate one-shot. _Might. _Definite might.**

**Disclaimr: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Just this actual fanfic is mine.**

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><p><strong>Xion: Burn<strong>

"This is it," Xion whispered. "No turning back." She didn't care how silly she sounded talking to herself. She was all alone anyway, sitting on the ledge overlooking the Station Plaza. In a flash of white, she summoned her Keyblade. Turning, she slowly raised her Keyblade and commanded one word: "Fire."

Red flares sparked to life and engulfed the little black book lying beside her. Xion watched with sad eyes as her journal, her only record of her existence-fake or not-burst into flames.

She didn't want to be followed. She also didn't want a reason to look back.


	3. Cinderella: Need

**Late post! Whoot! XD Seriously, I didn't mean to take this long, but I just could not find any spare time to write (which only made handling this idea floating around in my head that much more difficult DX). I don't have any particular posting schedule in mind, but I will try, TRY to make it , at most, two weeks. Weekends, if I get lucky.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Kingdom Hearts. Just this fanfic. If I actually owned KH, then Xion would've had better character development.**

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><p><strong><span>Cinderella: Need<span>**

"BREAKFAST!" Three simultaneous shrieks echoed down to Cinderella. She didn't try answering; it wouldn't have made any difference. She only continued to make her way silently up the stairs, balancing three trays of food in her arms.

Yet even as she walked, Cindy imagined herself in a magnificent, flowing gown dancing to her heart's content while golden ribbons and banners twirled around her. It was a vision she constantly found herself coming back to in all her misery, in all her need for comfort.

Because only in her dreams could she find the need to keep going. Only in her dreams could she find hope.


	4. Eraqus: Realistic

**I've grown strangely fond of teenage Eraqus and teenage Xehanort-even if it does make their story all the more tragic. Curse my inner sapling! I'm still not quite sure if they're in character, though. Then again, they're teenagers, so ... yea.**

**Disclaimer: Not my dollhouse. I just play with it.**

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><p><strong><span>Eraqus: Realistic<span>**

"Interesting …"

Eraqus looked over at Xehanort sitting beside him. "What? What is it?" he asked.

Xehanort pointed to the open book before him. "I hear this legend all the time, but in this version," he said. "They really have children play a huge role in it."

Eraqus answered, "Well, children do hold just as much strength in their hearts as adults." he added. "And it's up to us adults to protect them so that they _can_ grow up with that strength."

"Technically," said Xehanort. "We're seventeen. Aren't we still kids?"

"I prefer the term 'young adults'."

"Always the realist, Eraqus." Xehanort snorted.


	5. Ventus: Fear

**What's this? Two days in a row! DUN DUN DUN**

**Yeah, inspiration decided to hit me in the face with a brick and I just had to write this. This is probably the first theme I'm actuallly proud of thus far. Granted, it's not insuating ... anything. A certain someone is just being a certain someone.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Eraqus' death scene would've had Lion King music in the background. T.T**

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><p>"Veeentuus."<p>

"Huh?"

Ven sat up bolt upright in bed. It was dark, but as his eyes adjusted he found his bedroom empty. He glanced around. Where had that voice come from?

"Got chicken blood, Ventus?" Sardonic laughter echoed off the walls.

"Who's there?" Ven shouted, feeling the pounding in his chest quicken dramatically.

No one answered.

Ven sat there with his Keyblade at the ready. Still nothing happened. Perhaps he had imagined things?

Ven sighed, but he didn't feel the least bit relaxed. He reached up to wipe his brow, only to realize that his forehead was damp with sweat.


	6. Terra: Gone

**Might**** contain spoilers for the ending of Terra's story; although, it might be more confusing than obvious. :\**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, there would've been an adorable hand-holding moment between Terra and Aqua. :B**

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><p>Terra couldn't remember ever feeling so many emotions at once.<p>

Sorrow: for all he had lost or was in the process of losing.

Guilt: that more than half those losses were his doing.

Fury: at the very man who had deceived him, who stood before him, showing no remorse.

Shock: as said man raised his Keyblade—not at Terra—but at himself.

Confusion: Terra didn't understand. What was he up to now?

Terror: There was nothing he could do. It happened too fast. First there was light. Then there was dark.

And then, everything—his emotions, his senses, _everything_—vanished.


	7. Fairy Godmother: The Old Days

**Yes, I'm still alive. Thanks for caring. XD**

**This theme was incredibly tricky. That's why it took so dang long. Almost all my ideas involved both of these characters and some part of my brain kept wanting to write a romance fic. o_O But since romance is completely unfamiliar territory for me, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. So this can can interpretated however the reader sees it.**

**I'm not terribly happy with this turnout, but it's the closest to satisfaction I've gotten than the other darfts, so what you read is what you get.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

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><p><strong><span>Fairy Godmother: The Old Days<span>**

It was a very slim chance for someone who'd disappeared on that terrible night to ever be seen again. So when a familiar face literally appeared at Merlin's door, he was more than utterly shocked. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother staggered into the house, her face pale and her eyes etched white.

"It's gone, Merlin," she murmured. "…the darkness … my home … everything's gone …"

Merlin understood. He already knew. He immediately put a consoling arm around her and guided her to the sofa. But he couldn't stop noting how her eyes—once so bright and hopeful—looked glossy and broken.


End file.
